St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-11-27

ing from time to time something out of
an invisible bottle, and drinking imag-
mary healthS from purely suppOSiti-
tious tumbler. Then, all of sudden,
it turned upside down and disappeared.
1t was subsequently ascertained that
the fat gentleman, upon his arrival in
Albany, started in, for want of anything
better to do, on round of visits to the
local diSpenSaries of StimulantS. In the
evening. after seeing popular variety
show, he bethOught himself of the bust
ness upon which he was engaged, and,
having supplied himself with a precau-
tiOnary flask of sour mash, proceeded,
in the privacy of his bedchamber at the
hotel.t to project his phantasm, as agreed,
into the presence of the committee here
in Boston. As to the success of his eff
forts he had, at the time, no knowledge
whatever. Concerning the details of his
experiment he entertained subsequently
not the slightest recollection. 1t is GER
tain, however, that the policeman whose
duty it Is to preserve order in the house
was called to the room the psychical
delegate occupied by series of extra
ordinary bowls, and discovering the fat
gentleman in act of trying to stand on
his head in the middle of the floor.
promptly arrested and carried him off
to the nearest station house. Being
SObered up to some extent by incarce IA
ton over night in a dungeon cell, the
unhappy victim of pSychical enthusiasm
telegraphed again early the next morn
ing to the secretary in Boston, as fol-
lows:
"Send one hundred dollars bail. or
will haunt you permanently. X. Col
lect."
The money was sent. But another
time the committee will select an agent
whose weakness for alcohol is not likely
to compromise the SOciety'S scientific re-
plitatiOn. 1t must be admitted, never
thelesS. that the result of the expert
garded otherwise than as of the utmost
value to psychological investigation.
In conversation the other day. a gen.
tleman well known in theoSophical
circles, informed the writer, with a
sincerity and conviction quite unmiStak-
able, that he had himself frequently
succeeded
IN PROJECTING HIS "AsTRAL BODY'-
for so he called ito places thousands
of miles distant. Though. comparatively
speaking, an amateur i'm this mysterious
art, he had, on one occasion recently,
sent his SpoOkical representative on
board ship 500 leagues from land. to
visit friend. concerning whose safety
on the ocean he was anxious. But this
was nothing. A practiced expert in the
science, he declared, could dispatch his
spiritual entity-fOr such the astral body
seems to be, rather than mere phan-
taSm-tO the confines of the infinite;
could travel on the wings of thought
from planet to planet, and view with an
incOrpOreal eye the awful mechanism of
the universe.
'But why should not even you employ
the power you possess for some useful
purpose?" | asked. "Why not project
your astral body, as you term it, into the
bowels of the earth, and discover few
mines of gold and diamonds? Compared
with the riches you might so readily
grasp, the wealth of three-card Monte
CristO is as nothing"
A gentle smile Overspread the coun-
tenance of my theOsophic acquaintance.
''My dear sir" he replied, you little
understand the conditions under which
the faculty we speak of is acquired.
Only through the cultivation of a purity
of mind, untouched by selfish or ma
terial ambitions, may the wOuld-be
disciple of the divine Mahatmas hope to
grasp at length the ineffabe secret.
Should apply the limited power en-
Joy to such base uses. it would leave me.
Nay, more, / should myself be exposed
to the utmost danger. | have reason to
believe that fatal accidents not infre-
quently occur to rash explorers in the
mysterious realm of the beyond. My
own astral body. let us say, is absent in
South Africa. While on its travels it is
tempted, and-not being as yet entirely
cleansed from the soil of earthly pas
sion-it succumbS. Subsequently it
seeks to re-enter my corpOreal frame,
but cannot by reason of its unwOrthi
ness, and in consequence of this mis-
fortune perish physically"
But what becomes of your spiritual
entity?" 1 inquired, much interested.
Il would rather not go more deeply
into the subject" he responded, and
there the matter dropped. [ have been
wondering ever since. however. what
would happen If a couple of wandering
spooks should by mistake change places
upon returning to their owners. What
remarkable complications such an error
would occasion. to be sure. The case of
DIR. Jekyll and Mr.. HYDE would be moth